4th grade level measurement unit plan

The math lesson plans are about "measurements". For example, measuring a box, attributes would be height, width, length, and weight, units would be inches, cm, mm, lbs, oz, etc. These lesson plans are to teach measurements to students. Pls. check the attached file for the steps to take including instructional setting, objectives, activities, and assessment plan. Thank you.

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Summary: Students will participate in classroom Mountain Men and Women Measurement Rendezvous lessons and activities where they will apply measurement skills.

Background For Teachers:
The Mountain Man played an important part in the history of the American frontier. The era of the Mountain Man/Trapper lasted about 40 years from 1820 - 1840. They made many contributions to history by exploring the entire western part of the United States. They discovered easier ways to get through the mountains, made maps, kept journals, and served as guides and scouts for pioneers, the army, and the government.

The Mountain Man also introduced the Rendezvous to the history books. Rendezvous were gatherings held each summer where mountain men would meet with fur traders to trade their furs for supplies. The trappers would trade their furs for the "possibles" needed for the coming fur season. "Possibles" were such things as Galena lead for rifle balls, black powder, traps, "rendezvous whiskey," coffee, sugar, pemmican, jerky, clothing, blankets, horses and mules and other items that allowed them to live through the coming winter.

The life of a trapper was tough, lonely, and dangerous. The rendezvous gave these mountain men an opportunity to come together to swap stories of the year behind them; test their skills against each other, brawl, drink, and resupply for the coming year.

What kind of measurement would a mountain man have used? It was unlikely that they carried the common measurement tools of the time. In most cases, they did not need precise measurements in their daily activities. They generally used the measurement "tools" that mankind has over time to measure, parts of the human body. For example, the length of the tip of the index finger to the joint is a "digit" and the width of four fingers is a "palm." The distance from the tip of the thumb to the end of the little finger is a "span." The width of the thumb is about an inch. The distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger is called a "cubit." Distance was measured by the length of a person's foot. Three feet equaled about a yard. Longer distances were measured in paces. Two steps is a "pace." These were good enough for their daily activities.

At the time of the mountain men, there were other areas of life and commerce that required more precise measurement. It is likely that at the rendezvous, where commodities were being traded, such as lead for bullets, bottles of whiskey, salt, flour and other commodities, standardized measurements, such as pounds and quarts were no doubt used.

In different times and places in the world, there have been many systems of measurement. Today we use only two systems, the customary system in the United States and the metric system, which is, used almost everywhere else in the world. In all cases, measurement systems are tools that are used to help achieve specific objectives. How precise they are is entirely dependent on how precise they must be to achieve these objectives. The measurement systems necessary for the day-to-day life of the mountain men illustrate these differing needs.

B. Describe the students:
The students in my classroom would be a majority of regular division students at differing levels of learning within the fourth grade range. I would also expect to have some special education students who are included in regular division instruction. I would group students heterogeneously based on observations and a variety of evaluations. This is important because when students work together, there are people of differing learning levels, differing skill levels, and therefore differing adaptation levels. These differing levels of adaptive intelligence allow students to give to one another what others in the group do not have, which makes for a well balanced team that can share skills and help one another to solve problems together. Each member has something positive and unique to offer the group as a whole, which builds confidence for the group and therefore for the individuals.

C. This Unit Plan will last four weeks (20 school days) or one month. You could easily call whatever month you choose measurement month. Students will work on this unit during Math time daily, so it is 20 class period time frames or hours.

STUDENT'S INITIAL UNDERSTANDINGS

Students should have the basic 4th grade arithmetic and mathematics general knowledge
Students should have some basic knowledge of relationships among units of measurement
Students should have some very basic knowledge about how to determine measurements using appropriate tools.

DESIRED SHIFTS IN ...

Solution Summary

Students will participate in classroom Mountain Men and Women Measurement Rendezvous lessons and activities where they will apply measurement skills.

Background For Teachers:
The Mountain Man played an important part in the history of the American frontier. The era of the Mountain Man/Trapper lasted about 40 years from 1820 - 1840. They made many contributions to history by exploring the entire western part of the United States. They discovered easier ways to get through the mountains, made maps, kept journals, and served as guides and scouts for pioneers, the army, and the government.

The Mountain Man also introduced the Rendezvous to the history books. Rendezvous were gatherings held each summer where mountain men would meet with fur traders to trade their furs for supplies. The trappers would trade their furs for the "possibles" needed for the coming fur season. "Possibles" were such things as Galena lead for rifle balls, black powder, traps, "rendezvous whiskey," coffee, sugar, pemmican, jerky, clothing, blankets, horses and mules and other items that allowed them to live through the coming winter.

The life of a trapper was tough, lonely, and dangerous. The rendezvous gave these mountain men an opportunity to come together to swap stories of the year behind them; test their skills against each other, brawl, drink, and resupply for the coming year.

What kind of measurement would a mountain man have used? It was unlikely that they carried the common measurement tools of the time. In most cases, they did not need precise measurements in their daily activities. They generally used the measurement "tools" that mankind has over time to measure, parts of the human body. For example, the length of the tip of the index finger to the joint is a "digit" and the width of four fingers is a "palm." The distance from the tip of the thumb to the end of the little finger is a "span." The width of the thumb is about an inch. The distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger is called a "cubit." Distance was measured by the length of a person's foot. Three feet equaled about a yard. Longer distances were measured in paces. Two steps is a "pace." These were good enough for their daily activities.

At the time of the mountain men, there were other areas of life and commerce that required more precise measurement. It is likely that at the rendezvous, where commodities were being traded, such as lead for bullets, bottles of whiskey, salt, flour and other commodities, standardized measurements, such as pounds and quarts were no doubt used.

In different times and places in the world, there have been many systems of measurement. Today we use only two systems, the customary system in the United States and the metric system, which is, used almost everywhere else in the world. In all cases, measurement systems are tools that are used to help achieve specific objectives. How precise they are is entirely dependent on how precise they must be to achieve these objectives. The measurement systems necessary for the day-to-day life of the mountain men illustrate these differing needs.